Bifalgorithm post · Property · 2.03[E]. The same is true of all facts
Copyright Purpose
Copyright Purpose (Property · 2.03[E]. The same is true of all facts) — "It may seem unfair that much of the fruit of the compiler’s labor may be used by other…
Ideas in this flowchart
- Copyright balances limited author protection with the free use of ideas and facts to advance science and art.
- It may seem unfair that others can use much of a compiler’s labor without compensation.
- Justice Brennan describes this free use as the essence of copyright, not an unforeseen byproduct.
- Permitting others to build on protected works is also a constitutional requirement.
- Copyright’s primary objective is to promote the progress of science and useful arts.
- The idea/expression and fact/expression dichotomy applies to all works of authorship.
- For factual compilations, protection concerns original selection or arrangement rather than the underlying facts.
- Facts are not original and therefore cannot be copyrighted, whether alone or in a compilation.
- A compilation qualifies for copyright only when its selection or arrangement is original, and protection is limited accordingly.
- Authors retain rights in their original expression.
- Others may freely build upon the ideas and information conveyed by a work.
- Copyright can never extend to the facts themselves.
- This result is neither unfair nor unfortunate; it is how copyright advances science and art.
